Tobacco compositions



Patented 1.3, 1945 signor to Atlas Powder Company, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application April 5,

v Serial No. 387,072

8Glaims. (01.131-17) I The present invention relates a; tobacco compositions and to a novel ingredient for use in the manufacture of cigarettes, cigars, pipe and chewing tobacco, snuff and other tobacco products.

compositions of improvedtexture and keeping I qualities.

Another object isto provide smoking tobacco compositions ofimproved flavor and free from irritating and/0r toxic ingredients.

A further object is to provide a casing composition comprising a novel modifying ingredient.

Anobject of the invention is to provide tobacco The above and other objects will become 'apparent from the following description and. claims.

In the formulation of tobacco products-pan ticularly cigarettes, it is customary to modify the flavor, physical characteristics,'aroma and smoking quality of tobaccos by the incorporation of various flavoring ingredientsv such as essential oils, licorice and the like, and a bland hygroscopic, liquidvehicle, the main purpose of the latter being that of ra -conditioning agent to retain moisture and proper physical condition in the tobacco. Tobacco, itself, is extremely sensitive to variations in atmospheric humidity and,

requires close control of the moisture content or the dependent physical properties, particularly brittleness, by control of the atmosphere during manufacture, or the addition of hygroscopic conditioning agents. The latter may act not only-- by attracting or holding water in the tobacco leaf, but also as intrinsic plasticizers regardless of moisture content. s

The flavoring ingredient and the conditioning agent are usually incorporated with the tobacco in solution, known as casing solution, which may be applied either by spraying or by dipping. Maintenance of proper tobacco quality is essential during" manufacturing, not only to prevent,

undue dusting from excessive brittleness, but to insure uniform mixing. to prevent undesired fer mentative changes, and to insure proper periormance in the cigarette machines.

The conditioning agent likewise affects the keeping qualities of the tobacco product durin storage, in preventing .or retarding moisture changes, and in protecting the flavoring ingredients against deterioration by chemical changes. The'retention of quality 'by loose cigarettesm open packages is also of importance. The conditioning agents are, therefore, designed to prevent'drying out and loss of tobacco from the cigarettes and loss of the volatile flavoring ingredients. Conditioning agents should also serve I glycerin or the glycols, their to retain the amount of moisture necessary to insure proper smoking quality.

Among the conditioning agents heretofore used in the tobacco industry. are molasses, sugars,- particularly invert sugar-,. glycerol, diethylenc glycol and sorbitol.

In view of their cheapness, sugars are used as much as ossible but the amounts employed are limited by the fact that they do not impart suflicient elasticity or "life to cigarette. tobac-, cos, theirhygroscopicity is inferior to that of v causes undesired changes in the flavoring, and

, trate the tobacco'as rapidly and as uniformly as Diethylene glycol isadvantageous from the their combustion roducts do not give the most desirable smoking characteristics." Also, casing solutions high in sugar do not strike in orpenedo those. formulated with less viscous materials. -Glycerine has more desirable physical characteristics with respect to hygroscoplcity, power of imparting springiness or life to cigarette tobacco. and better performance on spraying. Also, be-

ing less reactive than sugars, it produces less changes in the flavor. However, its combustion gives rise to the highly irritating acrolein, which not only affects general smoking. quality unfavorably when present to excess, but also, due to its high chemical reactivity, acts upon the flavor-- ing ingredients in the butt portion of the cigarette thus; altering undesirably the smoking characteristics during the latter stages of the smoking period.

standpoint of hygroscopicityand physical quality of the tobacco during processing and smoking, but, being more volatile than glycerin, diethylene glycol appears in the smoke as such, and hence is absorbed by the system. In view of the known toxicity of diethylene glycol, its use in tobacco'is consideredrby many to be undesirable.

Sorbitol does not yield'acrolein on combustion,

and does not have the chemical reactivity to wards'flavoring ingredients of the sugars. Sorbitol has the drawback, however, of relatively high viscosity which in certain cases is undesirable.

This viscosity can be modified by substituting glycerol or other material for part of the sorbitol but then the disadvantages of the substituted material are experienced.

My invention consists in using hexides (hexi-.

tol dianhydrides) as the vehicle or conditioning agent in casing solutions for tobacco products.- Thesesubstances have theuseful qualities of the previously used conditioning agents but are free from the outstanding defects noted.

chemical reactivity as sorbitoi, mannitol, dulcitcl, or the mixedpolyhydric alcohols obtainable by the reduction of sugars. Even starting from a single hexahydric alcohol a noncrystallizing mixture comprising hexides is usually obtained, and the commercial product is a concentrated aqueous solution of viscosity somewhat less than glycerine. The hexides are substantially non-toxic. The individual hexides are named by substituting the sumx ide for the suflix ito in the name of the parent hexitol, thus,,the dlhydroxy cyclic inner ether of sorbitol is sorbide; that of mannitol, mannide; and that of dulcitol, dulcide.

The hexides which I. use may be substantially pure or preferably are the technical products which contain minor amounts of the monoanhydrides of hexitols or the anhydrides oi hexane pentols which are found in certain commercial hexitol products.

Whereas any or the hexides may be used, particularly advantageous results are secured from distilled out and appears in the smoke stream and thus contributes to its flavor, while the portion which is burned is not undesirably irritating as are the combustion products of many conditioning agents.

Whereas desirable results are obtainable by using hexides as the sole conditioning agent or vehicle, they may be used advantageously with sugars, sorbitol, or other hygroscopic agents to diminish the viscosity and improve the hygroscopicity of the latter.

I The amounts used will vary, of course, with the nature of the tobacco products desired, whether lightly or heavily cased, for use in moist or, dry climates, and with the type of smoking quality 1 aimed at.

the liquid mixture which contains a large proportion of 'sorbide and is obtained by the dehydration of commercial sorbitoi.

When used in formulating tobacco products, I

of exceptional uniformity. Also the hexides have a definite solvent power for many essential oils and other flavoring ingredients, thus supplementing the use of nonaqueous volatile solvents in casing solutions.

During smoking, a portion of the hexide is The mode of application is identical with that of other similar ingredients in common use and presents no difiiculties to skilled practitioners in the art of tobaccocompounding.

Having described my invention, what I claim 1. A method for preparing a modified tobacco product which comprises adding a solution containing a hexide to the said tobacco product.

2. A method for preparing a modified tobacco product which comprises adding a solution of 'sorbide to the said tobacco product.

3. A tobacco product comprising a hexide as a conditioning agent.

4. A tobacco product comprising sorbide as a conditioning agent.

5. A casing liquid for tobacco products comprising a casing or flavoring liquid and a he xi de as a conditioning agent.

6. A casing liquid for tobacco products comprising a. casing or flavoring liquid and sorbide as a conditioning agent. I

7. A method of preparing a tobacco product which comprises adding a mixture comprising a hexide and another hygroscopic conditioning agent to the tobacco product. p

8. A tobacco product embodying sorbide as a hygroscopic agent to maintain a. moisture bal- 

